Born in 1945, Mansour was appointed to the court in 1992, making him one of its longest-serving judges. The Muslim Brotherhood and the court repeatedly clashed during Mohamed Morsi’s clumsy attempts to force through constitutional change, with the Islamist party seeing it as an enemy and launching sometimes violent protests against its members.

Despite his control over Egypt’s political institutions Morsi was never able to control the judiciary, many of whom were Mubarak-era appointees. In December last year security guards had to step in after the car of Maher al-Beheiry, Mansour’s predecessor, was attacked by Brotherhood supporters fearful the court would dissolve the Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly tasked with drafting the amended constitution.